Hitsugaya and the Shinigami Women's Association
by Lika2
Summary: Hitsugaya gets roped into being Matsumoto's replacement for one meeting


**Disclaimer:** Kubo Tite created the characters here, not me

**A/N:** Many thanks to Chariel, the sweetest girl on the planet, for reading the first draft and telling me it doesn't suck, and to squidgeesushi, a damn good beta reader, for making the fic a hell of a lot more readable than it originally was and for letting me know that the human body only has one liver. You rock, girl.

* * *

It started with Matsumoto of course.

(It was always Matsumoto. He had such a nice quiet life before Matsumoto.)

Matsumoto had been talking about a cover design for the new address books the Shinigami Women's Association were putting out next month.

Actually, rewind. The story had really started when Matsumoto broke her ankle whilst fighting a Hollow the day before. They had gone to the 4th division where she was given a pill that immediately mended her ankle and both Hitsugaya and Matsumoto had thought no more on the topic. The next day, Matsumoto went out for lunch with Kyouraku-taichou, Renji, Iba, and a number of 11th division guys that predictably turned into a liquid lunch.

Enter Matsumoto into 10th division headquarters two hours later than she should have been, slightly intoxicated, but seemingly willing to tackle the weekly training reports. Hitsugaya had learned from experience that Matsumoto was more willing to do paperwork when she was drunk than when she was sober. Unfortunately, she was also more likely to draw circles and triangles all over the reports before laying her head on the desk and complaining that the lines on the paper were trying to run away from her.

She plopped the enormous box of cupcakes she was carrying on the table, displacing a pile of training reports in the process – an act which made Hitsugaya scowl at her – and offered him a cupcake.

"They're for the Shinigami Women's Association tonight," she chirped as she settled down in her chair and picked up a brush. "It's my turn to bring snacks. How does it taste?"

The cupcake was delicious, but Hitsugaya would die before he let her know that. "It's all right," he said gruffly, dropping the wrapper neatly in the trashcan beside him. He then pointed at the training reports on the floor. "Do you mind picking the reports up and starting on them?"

"Hai, taichou!" She scooped the reports up and dumped them in an untidy pile on top of last week's transfer papers. "Tonight we're going to discuss the cover for the new address books we're putting out next month." She waved her brush at him and smiled. "Do you want to see the cover I came up with?"

"No," Hitsugaya replied impatiently, getting back to his budget reports. "Shouldn't you be finishing those training reports? They were due three days ago."

Matsumoto sighed and dipped her brush in the inkwell. "The lines are starting to run away from me again."

Hitsugaya's left eyebrow started to twitch. "You seemed fine when you were talking about cupcakes and address books."

Matsumoto lit up. "Oh taichou, they're going to be a bit hit!" she cried excitedly. The brush fell to the floor as she stood up, swaying just a little bit, and clasped her hands together. "We felt the female Shinigami should all have address books so they could keep track of all the guys who asked them out. Think of how much better their lives will be when they want to call a cute boy up and they have his contact information all ready in a pocket size book."

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes.

"So tonight we're all going to display our ideas for the covers and then we're going to vote. I worked so hard on mine. I spent all Tuesday afternoon on it."

"I remember that. You were supposed to be processing the paperwork for the new recruits."

"But I had to find the right shade of lipstick for the kisses on the cover. You should see it." She started to rummage through the mess of paper on her desk.

Hitsugaya rubbed his temples. "Do you ladies do anything that's actually worthwhile at those meetings?"

"Of course we do," Matsumoto replied placidly, ignoring the sneer in his tone. "Remember the dispensers we designed for the soul candies? Chappy sold out in a week. We got a lot of letters from women Shinigami all over the Seireitei thanking us for the design. They enjoy knowing that we're looking out for their well-being. Could you imagine how depressing and uninspired they'd be if that was designed by one of the guys? And we all know a happy and inspired female Shinigami makes for a better fighting Shinigami in the field - oh, here it is." With a triumphant flourish, she pulled a sheet of paper under a small pile of invoices, knocking the invoices on the floor in the process, and held it up for Hitsugaya to see.

He glowered when he saw the pink outline of a very busty, very curvy, what seemed to be a very naked girl, looking suspiciously like his vice-captain. She was surrounded by hearts and the lipsticked kisses Matsumoto had laboured so hard over.

"So, what do you think, Taichou?"

He turned his head away with a sigh. "I don't even know why I bother."

"So you approv- UGH!"

Hitsugaya turned back to see Matsumoto doubling over and grabbing her chest, her cover design falling on the floor next to the invoices. A familiar upchucking sound followed by the equally familiar smell of bile made Hitsugaya realize that she hadn't fully recovered from her lunchtime debauchery.

"Don't throw up on the reports!" Hitsugaya snapped, as he rushed over to shove the papers out of the way from the trajectory of regurgitated ramen and sake. It wasn't until he saw blood dripping down her mouth and chin that he yelled her name, the weekly reports being the last thing on his mind, and went to grab her. The sight of their small captain carrying their tall, full figured vice-captain in his arm as he shunpoed to the 4th division was one the 10th division never quite got over to this day.

Fortunately, Unohana wasn't occupied with other patients when Hitsugaya arrived and was able to look at Matsumoto immediately. One look was all she needed and she gave some soft but firm commands to Hanatarou to grab the bottle in Room 5, while giving something to the gasping Matsumoto to calm her breathing.

"Someone must have given her the discontinued fast healing pill for her ankle yesterday," Unohana murmured, wiping bile and sweat from Matsumoto's face. "It's a pill that's not supposed to be taken with alcohol."

Unohana didn't have to explain to Hitsugaya that the reason the pill was discontinued was because expecting half of the Seireitei to not to drink alcohol for any extended (or unextended) period of time was an idyllic daydream that belonged in the world of unicorns and leprechauns. The numbers of 11th division members who had to be hospitalized when the pill was first introduced easily rose to three digits figures.

Despite himself, Hitsugaya grinned, something which he blamed on the immense relief he felt when he heard that Matsumoto was going to be all right. He quickly forced a scowl on his face so no one would catch on to how worried and relieved he had been over his vice-captain

He guessed he may as well blame worry and relief on why he was here right as well.

Unohana was adamant that Matsumoto stay at fourth division overnight, which distressed the vice-captain immensely.

"Why are you so upset about it?" Hitsugaya asked in a very bored tone. He rolled his eyes at Matsumoto's failed attempts to sit up. "You actually have a legitimate reason to not finish the training reports tonight. Figures you would go drinking for lunch and I would be the one to stay up late finishing your reports."

It took a great deal of restraint to not tack on the word "again".

"But—" Matsumoto was so agitated she was actually trying to roll off the bed now. Hitsugaya sighted and put his hands on her shoulders to hold her still. "—The voting is tonight!"

"So?"

"So! If I don't go tonight I won't get a chance to propose my design for the address books."

"Big deal. The address books are a stupid idea. The guy is supposed to call the girl."

"But what if the boy loses her contact information? Then she'll have to call him."

"If the guy was careless enough to lose it, he probably wasn't all that interested in her in the first place."

"Taichou, that's mean!"

He shrugged, which momentarily relaxed his grip on her shoulders. A moment in which Matsumoto nearly slipped out of his hands and fell off the bed.

"Dammit, Matsumoto, you're going to hurt yourself," he snapped, tightening his grip on her. How she could still be so strong when she couldn't even sit up was beyond him.

"But it's my turn to bring snacks! It took time to bake those cupcakes."

Hitsugaya was so close to saying screw the Shinigami Women's Association, they could finish those delicious cupcakes on their own.

"You'd risk your health over cupcakes and address books?"

"To help fellow female Shinigami, yes!"

"Idiot."

"Taaaaaaai-chou!" Never had the word sounded more whiny or imploring.

"You'll probably end up tearing your liver if you leave and not be able to drink for the rest of eternity."

The struggling slowed as she gaped at him in disbelief. "That's the meanest thing anyone has ever said to me."

He had to work really hard to keep from laughing. "It's not like you're going to win. Yachiru's designs always win. You keep complaining about that."

It made no sense that Matsumoto lit up at the comment, but she stopped struggling completely and beamed at him. "Taichou, you do pay attention!"

"Shut up!" He scowled and let go of her shoulders. "Look, if it really means that much to you, I'll go and give them your stupid cover design."

The moment the words were out of his mouth he regretted them. Unfortunately, the look of adoring awe from Matsumoto meant he couldn't take them back.

He couldn't remember how she managed to talk him into taking the cupcakes as well. Or to stay throughout the entire meeting. And take notes.

Actually, he did remember. He just preferred not to. To remember would mean to dwell on the fact that he was, indeed, a sucker.

So here he was at the Shinigami Women's Association.

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" Nanao said in surprise when he ambled into the room, a scowl on his face and the stupid box of cupcakes in his hands. "What are you doing here? Captain/Vice-Captain Appreciation Day isn't until next week. And where's Rangiku-san?"

A feeling that was distinctly similar to suspicion began to dawn on him, but he would pursue it later after he put down the damn cupcakes. "Matsumoto's in the fourth division. She won't be coming today. I'm filling in for her." Considering that he was the only boy in the room, and second shortest, and holding a huge box of cupcakes that were almost as big as he was, the dignity he managed to exude was nothing short of admirable. "Where do you want me to put the cupcakes?"

Nanao indicated the table next to hers where drinks were already set up. Hitsugaya put the cupcakes down next to the juice, and just about lost his eardrums when a pink and black blur knocked him over shrieking, "YAY CUPCAKES!"

There was a moment of mad pandemonium as the other women at the association all rushed to the table to grab a cupcake before Yachiru ate them all. Hitsugaya took the hint and stood up to grab one as well. Damn if he wasn't going to have one after coming all the way here. He then succeeded in getting his ribs crushed, both feet stepped on, and one side of his face smacked by Isane's ample bosom. It was almost as if Matsumoto was there in spirit with him.

Somehow he managed to pull himself out of that wriggling mess of pushing, shoving ladies with his cupcake intact. He sat down at a chair that had Matsumoto's name labeled on it and took a bite of his snack. He rubbed his ringing ears, made worse by the yelling all the women were doing, and decided it was going to be a very long meeting.

"What did you say about Captain Appreciation Day?" He asked Nanao when she was able to pull away.

"Captain/Vice-Captain Appreciation Day," Nanao corrected, biting daintily in her cupcake. Her face and the tone of voice calm and even, as if she too hadn't just a second earlier yelled in panic and shoved Nemu to the left and Soi Fong to her right to get at the vanilla one with rainbow coloured gummies on it.

"It's to promote a feeling of appreciation between captains and vice-captains." Despite the noble intention the words indicated, a frown appeared on Nanao's face. "We're supposed to introduce them and give a speech extolling their virtues and worth and why they're such great captains." Her frown deepened. Hitsugaya could only imagine Kyouraku-taichou's glee when Nanao informed him of that. "And then the captains are supposed to give a speech extolling our virtues and worth and why we're such great vice-captains." Hitsugaya didn't think it was possible for Nanao's frown to deepened even more, but it did, and her eyes narrowed slightly as she imagined all the phrases like "lovely Nanao-chan!" and "such a gorgeous, adorable beauty when she's being so cold to me" that was going to pepper his speech.

"I'm surprised Rangiku-san didn't tell you," she continued, almost darkly. "It was her idea."

"It would be," Hitsugaya muttered. Nor was he was surprised that she didn't tell him. She knew that if he had known about it, he would have flatly refused to participate. At least one good thing came out of going the meeting. Hitsugaya made a note to invent a distant fourth cousin five times removed that lived on some unnamed tall mountain in a far remote region of Soul Society who would suddenly need his help next week.

"Ken-chan says making speeches is for sissies!" yelled Yachiru, jumping onto the chair at the front that had the word "President" inked on the back. "He wants to fight the other captains instead!" She dumped the large pile of cupcakes she had in her arms on the table and proceeded to eat through them

Hitsugaya hated to admit it, but he was with Zaraki-taichou on this one.

"But we already decided on speeches last week," said Kiyone, sitting down at a table across from Hitsugaya's and picking up a shoujo manga.

"FIGHT!"

"We'll discuss this later," Nanao said sharply, taking her seat beside Yachiru, glaring first at Kiyone, who blushed and put her manga away, and then at the little pink-haired president who turned around and smiled broadly back at her. Nanao sighed and turned her attention back to Hitsugaya. "Is Rangiku-san all right?"

"Yeah, she'll be fine," Hitsugaya muttered impatiently, wanting the meeting to be over already.

"Unohana-taichou said she'll be back to normal tomorrow," Isane informed them, as she took her seat beside her sister. She was the last one to sit down. Nemu and Soi Fong were already finishing off their cupcakes in their chairs, waiting for the meeting to begin.

"Okay everyone," Yachiru started in what was a surprisingly calm, authorative voice. She stood up on her desk as Nanao ran to the chalkboard behind her. "Today's theme is the cover of the new address books." Nanao obediently wrote the theme on the chalkboard.

Yachiru plopped back down on her chair. "That's it for me," she called gaily. "You take over, Glasses-chan. I'm going to eat cupcakes!"

Nanao rolled her eyes. If Nanao wasn't his long suffering kindred spirit, Hitsugaya didn't know who was. He made a mental note to ask her to lunch one day. The commiseration should be spectacular.

She walked back to the desk where Yachiru was munching away and pushed her glasses farther up her nose. "So last week we asked everyone to come up with a design for the new address books. Something that would inspire all female Shinigami to meet as many people as possible, store their contact information and develop a good network. We shall go in order. Rangiku-san is first. Since you're filling in for her, Hitsugaya-taichou, you may up come up now and present her design."

Hitsugaya sighed and held out Matusmoto's cover design to Nanao.

He was surprised when she didn't take it. "You have to present it," she said.

Hitsugaya glared at her. "I have to what?"

Nanao pointed to chalkboard, just under where she had written the theme earlier. "Stand up there, hold up the design, and explain what it is and why we should vote for it."

Hitsugaya stared at the paper with the pink outline of the naked busty girl. The hearts were swimming in his vision and the lipsticked kisses seemed even more seductive and inappropriate than he remembered.

And he was supposed to present this.

"I didn't design it."

"Doesn't matter. As Rangiku-san's representative, you can still present it."

"I don't have to be Matsumoto's representative," he countered bitingly.

"It needs to be presented regardless."

An old dream of exchanging Matsumoto for Nanao as his vice-captain vanished forever right then. The schoolteacher scolding that worked so well for Kyouraku-taichou (mainly because it was exactly what he needed – and wanted) would have driven Hitsugaya mad in an hour.

But he would never admit that he'd rather be wheedled, coddled, and implored (or tricked, but he would NEVER EVER admit that) into doing something he didn't want to do.

"You could do it, Hitsugaya-taichou," Isane said encouragingly across the room.

Kiyone echoed her sister's sentiments, and Yachiru, her face all smeared with chocolate icing, started to jump up and down in her chair. "Yay, Whitey-chan's going to present! Whitey-chan's going to present!"

He wanted to hit head against the desk. Matsumoto owed him a year of paperwork, finished on time, with no complaints or sighs of despairs or triangles drawn all over them, for this.

He grunted, pushed himself out of the chair, Matsumoto's design crumpled in his hand, his cheeks red with annoyance and embarrassment, and walked up to the chalkboard. He turned and faced the high-ranking ladies of the Seireitei in front of him.

Kiyone and Isane were smiling at him. Nemu have him a shy nod. Soi Fong was fiddling with her design of a black cat. Nanao had moved away from her desk so she could turn and face him, waiting for him to begin. Yachiru still had her back him, blissfully chomping away on cupcakes.

Hitsugaya held up Matsumoto's cover design in one hand, as far away from him as his outstretched arm would allow, feeling like a preschooler at show-and-tell. This was by far the most childish thing he had done since he became captain. Surely, he thought to himself, there must be more pertinent matter that the Shinigami Women's Association should look into. Like harassment-free working conditions. Or better training techniques for the new recruits. Or getting 11th division to stop throwing severed limbs and dead rabbits (Hitsugaya believed they were rabbits) over the walls of 10th division. When they weren't breaking the walls down because they couldn't throw the limbs and carcasses high enough.

Hell, he might even make a list one of these days for Matsumoto to take to a meeting.

"This is a girl on the cover," Hitsugaya muttered finally. "Which would make sense since the address book is targeted to the female Shinigami in the Seireitei."

It wasn't a particularly intelligent or inspiring presentation in Hitsugaya's mind, so he was completely bowled over when all the women around him clapped their hands in admiration.

"Nicely done!" Kiyone cheered.

"It was logical," said Nemu.

"Very," Isane agreed.

"It was the first explanation I've heard here in all the years I've been vice-president that wasn't based on what that person wanted for herself," Nanao said with great approval.

Hitsugaya decided that he would never ever understand the female race as a collective.

The rest of the meeting continued along that vein. Hitsugaya was somewhere between a bored stupor and perpetual stun as he watch the rest of the association present their design covers.

"This cover should be soft and padded in case a taller person drops it on a shorter person."

"But most girls wouldn't find many people shorter than them to drop them on. Think of other people. "

"It could be cuddled when someone has a nightmare and I like teddy bears."

"Not everyone like teddy bears. Think of other people."

"There's a quote from Yoruichi on every page."

"You already know what I'm going to say." Followed by a long suffering sigh. "Think of other people."

"…"

"FOR GOD SAKE, CAN'T YOU JUST ONCE COME UP WITH SOMETHING THAT'S NOT SEXUALLY EXPLICIT AND REVOLTING? I CANNOT LOOK AT A MAN FOR A WEEK AFTER I SEE YOUR DESIGNS."

Nanao's last outburst was due to the fact that she was the only person in the room other than Hitsugaya who didn't turn away and shield her eye when Nemu walked up the blackboard, and that was because she felt she had to look at everyone's design to make a fair comment on them.

Hitsugaya was pulling himself up onto his chair from where he had fallen off, yelling in horror. It would be the biggest surprise of Hitsugaya's life that the silent, unassuming vice-captain of 12th division would be the one to strip him of his innocence, not his own mischievous, breasts-baring one.

Despite having what was left of his childhood ruthlessly ripped away in the two seconds he knew would replay in his head for a week, Hitsugaya found that he didn't mind being there after a while, even if he couldn't figure out if it was a rabbit, or a bear, or a mongoose that Yachiru was presenting. Everyone clapped politely, and Yachiru cheered and went to draw another picture, this time on Nanao's carefully detailed minutes.

"Hey, stop that!" Nanao pulled the minutes away and Yachiru went to colour the walls instead.

Oh, don't get him wrong; the meeting was stupid.

Hell, it even more stupid than he had envisioned it to be. The ladies started chattering about putting together a picture book of Captain/Vice-Captain Appreciation Day (Hitsugaya decided that that his newly discovered fourth cousin five times removed needed him on an extremely delicate and secret mission of which they could let no one know of their location) and then argued about what colours the lanterns should be for the Annual Kidou Competition next month.

Yet it also struck him, as he watched Soi Fong volunteer the ever suffering Nanao to be the one to take pictures of Kuchiki-taichou for their "Bishounen Special" in the picture book, that maybe improving the lives of female Shinigami wasn't the only point of the association. He was surprised to see an odd comradeship amoung the females in the room, even if Nemu was quiet for most of the meeting and Yachiru seemed lost in her own world drawing fluffy mammals everywhere. Nanao was arguing with Soi Fong and Kiyone, while Isane grinned and Yachiru asked what kind of pictures was Glasses-san going to take of Bya-kun.

Who would have thought Soi Fong had that sly sense of humour, or that she'd be working with Kiyone of all people to convince Nanao to do her bidding? Even Nemu seemed to be into the conversation, watching Nanao snap at a laughing Kiyone with shy interest.

Throughout all the bustle and chatter, Hitsugaya saw Matsumoto clearly. He saw her handing out cupcakes to all the ladies here, telling them to let her know how good they tasted. He saw her laughing at Yachiru, asking Kiyone what manga she was reading, convincing Isane to take a day off to go shopping, smiling at Nemu, reinforcing Soi Fong's suggestion that Nanao be the one to march up to sixth division headquarters and ask their captain if he would be so kind as to pose next to the Sakura trees.

He saw this and it surprised him because he had never seen Matsumoto as one of the female Shinigami. Despite her buxom, almost exaggerated feminine appearance, he had always seen her as one of the guys. She was the one who was always took extended lunch hours or skipped work to go drinking with a bunch of male Shinigami.

Seeing her here in his mind though, he suddenly recalled the times Matsumoto came to work bruised and limping, muttering under her breath that damn, Nanao-chan's kidou is good and she was never going to ask her if she could take her on in the field again. Or the times when she had gone to 4th division to pick up some medication and didn't come back for hours because she got caught up in a conversation with Isane or Unohana-taichou. Or all the times she chatted with Hinamori, always trying to convince the younger girl to hang out with her outside their respective division headquarters.

Hinamori never could make it. She was always so busy.

Hinamori.

He wondered why she wasn't here.

He could see her here clearly as well. She'd like bringing snacks to the meeting, she who used to give him watermelons because it was his favorite fruit, and who baked for Kira and Renji for their study dates. She'd like helping out with painting banners and lanterns for kidou contests, moon festivals and a number of other ceremonies. She might even like hearing the stupid gossip and chatter that popped up every ten minute and took the topic on a totally different tangent.

Hitsugaya had never thought much before on the fact that Hinamori was the only female vice-captain who didn't participate in the Shinigami Women's Association, mostly because he always thought the association was stupid (it still was) and Hinamori had better things to do with her time. She was an extremely shy, private person anyway. Hitsugaya understood that. He wasn't social himself, having few friends outside Hinamori, Matsumoto, and Ukitake-taichou. Not everyone needed to be as outgoing and fun-loving as Matsumoto.

_Yes, because members such Soi Fong and Nemu are such party animals._

He bit back a scowl, wishing he knew why Hinamori's absence was bugging him so much.

"Um." Isane cleared her throat, and Hitsugaya's thoughts returned to the meeting before him. The pen in his hand was raised a couple of inches over the notebook he had filled for Matsumoto, and he turned his attention to the 4th division vice-captain. "Do we vote now?" she asked.

Nanao was at a loss. They had never voted in the past. Normally she rejected every single proposal until Yachiru tugged her sleeve and held up her rabbit, or bear, or mongoose, and that would be the chosen design. It occurred to her now that the silent agreement in previous meeting hadn't been met in this one, and that Yachiru had bounded off to colour the wall right after her presentation, leaving the conclusion open.

"Um, I guess we do," Nanao said uncertainly.

"I vote for Rangiku-san," Isane declared.

"Me too!" Kiyone called out.

Nemu nodded her head once and Soi Fong sighed and grunted her approval.

Hitsugaya gaped at all the ladies in the room.

"Really?" Nanao asked.

"He made a very convincing presentation," Kiyone said, tipping her head in Hitsugaya's direction. Hitsugaya who, by the way, wasn't thinking any coherent thoughts at the moment.

"It made a lot of sense," Nemu said.

"It was a very good presentation," Nanao agreed.

Welcome back stupor and stun. If Hitsugaya was capable of concentration at that moment, he would have heard the ocean echoing through his brain.

Nanao looked with apprehension at Yachiru who was still scribbling away . "President," she said, "are you okay with Rangiku-san's design for the cover?"

Yachiru glanced up at the picture Nanao was holding in her hands. She broke into a huge grin as she pointed at the very round, very large boobs Matsumoto had drawn, and yelled, "YAY CUPCAKES!" And then went back to scribbling what looks like a mix between a panda and a kangaroo on the doorway.

"I guess that settles it." Nanao adjusted her glasses with her left hand. "We shall use Rangiku-san's design for the new address books." She turned to Hitsugaya who was still trying to recover his ability to think in full sentences. "Pass our congratulations to Matsumoto-fukutaichou. She's going to be pleased to know that she won."

The full sentences started to kick in right then, and he thought to himself that this was one victory he was going to regret in the coming week.

Actually, it turned out to be another success story in the Shinigami Women's Association annals. The address book did all right in sales among the female Shinigami, but the sales skyrocketed among the males, who never lost phone numbers after that. Matsumoto would never admit it, but Hitsugaya had a point about it being the boy's job to call. The number of couples in the Seireitei doubled within three months of the introduction of those address books.

* * *

"So was Yachiru thrilled with winning the vote again?"

Matsumoto was sitting up in her bed in the 4th division recovery ward, a tray on her lap. On it was a half-eaten red bean paste bun and some papers that she was writing on. She smiled when she saw her captain at the door, and it warmed his heart to see her looking like her own strong, vibrant self.

Hitsugaya walked up to her and gave her the notes he took at the meeting. "Actually, you won," he told her, folding her arms across his chest.

Matsumoto dropped the notebook and stared at him. "What!" He couldn't help but give a small cheeky grin at the confusion that crossed her face. "That's impossible. She always wins. How – how the hell did you manage that?"

Hitsugaya shrugged.

Matsumoto stared at him for a moment, and then burst into a delighted laugh. "Wow." Hitsugaya tried not to think too much of the admiration in her face as she grinned at him. "I don't feel so bad about doing the training reports now." She picked a pile of paper off the tray and handed them to him.

Now it was Hitsugaya's turn to blink and her turn to smirk. "They're not all done, but I only have a couple left to do. Which is tomorrow-afternoon-off worthy, if you want my opinion."

"You would have taken tomorrow afternoon off anyways," Hitsugaya retorted, pulling up a nearby chair so he could put the training reports on his lap. "When did you find the time to do them?"

"About an hour after you left. I had recovered enough to sit up and write. I even contemplated going to the Shinigami Women's Association meeting, but Unohana-taichou caught me trying to sneak out the room and told me to go back to bed."

Hitsugaya snorted. "You probably ruptured something when you tried to sneak out and Unohana-taichou had to come in and repair it."

Matsumoto tried to look hurt and offended, which only made her look even more guilty. Her captain knew her too well.

"Anyways, it was a good thing you went instead. I'm looking forward to seeing my design on all the address books next month!"

Hitsugaya groaned. He had a feeling that she would publicly gloat over that cover and then tell everyone in the Seireitei that she couldn't have done it without her captain.

If only he knew how validated his feeling would be.

"So you did the training report instead?"

"I had eighth seat Saru deliver them to me when I was feeling better." The pride in her voice was endearing. Hitsugaya almost couldn't blame himself for letting her get away with as much as he did when he heard it. "Oh, they were a pain to do, but it's worth a little pain to do something for my captain who's always so good to me. Aren't you proud of me?"

Hitsugaya scowled at her. "For doing what you're supposed to do in the first place?"

She leaned against the wall and grinned at him affectionately. "That's when you should be proudest, Taichou."

His rolled his eyes, and then went through the reports. There wasn't a single triangle or circle on any of them. He wasn't going to tell her how much he appreciated that, but then, he never needed to. She didn't say anything as he flipped through them, content just to have him nearby.

When he had finished looking through the last one, he put the reports back down and leaned forward, his hands resting on the stack of papers on his lap. He grew pensive, which made his eyes narrow lightly. "Oi, Matsumoto," he said, "did Hinamori ever go to the Shinigami Women's Association?"

Matsumoto's own eyes grew thoughtful. "She did a couple of times when she first became vice-captain. She never returned after that, which is a shame. She was so eager to bring snacks and help paint banners. It seemed like she really enjoyed it."

Hitsugaya frowned. He had a feeling Hinamori would enjoy the association if she went so he wasn't surprised to hear that she did like it there. He couldn't understand why she didn't continue to go. Hinamori wasn't one to start something and not finish it.

"Did anyone ask her why she never returned?"

"Of course. Isane and Nemu went to see her first and informed us that Hinamori told them she was too busy with 5th division work to participate. I later went with Nanao-chan to see if there was a way we could get her to join us for the occasional meeting, and we got the same answer. Nanao-chan didn't like the idea of any female vice-captains being left out, so we went to talk to Aizen-taichou afterwards."

Hitsugaya didn't look up but there was an added charge to his voice that told Matsumoto he was very interested in what Aizen had to say. "Was he supportive?"

"Very. He wanted Hinamori to get to know other women Shinigami as well, build a strong network of friends who could help her become a powerful Shinigami." Seeing her captain frown, Matsumoto's felt her own brow tightened as she too tried to see if there was something more to Hinamori's absence. "He even went so far as to get someone else to do Hinamori's work on the evenings that we had meetings."

Years later, when Hitsugaya was watching over Hinamori as she lay in her coma, he would wonder about Captain Aizen's encouragements for Hinamori to make friends, which seemed in sharp contradiction to how increasingly isolated she became as she worked in fifth division. Aizen had explained to Abarai-fukutaichou before he left the Seireitei how he had placed Hinamori, Kira, and Abarai into different divisions, separating them from each other. When Abarai-fukutaichou told this to Hitsugaya, the tenth division captain wondered, remembering that extremely off-kilter comradeship he witness at the Shinigami Women's Association, if Aizen had anything to do with Hinamori's absence from the association as well.

"Did you bring up Aizen's support to Hinamori?"

"Yes. She objected, saying that it was only she who could do the work. No one else had that level of kidou.'

The frown on Hitsugaya's face deepened. It was true. No one else in 5th division had Hinamori's expertise when it came to kidou. No doubt she felt time would be better served strengthening 5th division offenses and defenses than sitting in a room with chattering women who ate cupcakes. He was being overprotective again. He just wished he knew for sure that there were legitimate reasons not to be.

Matsumoto watched her captain trying to assess the situation, overcoming the urge to pull him against her chest for a suffocating bear hug. She always loved her captain, who beneath his stern gruff exterior was the most caring person she knew, and it touched her to see him worrying so much about Hinamori. She just hoped the fates would be good and allow Hinamori to realize how much he cared about her one day.

"If you like, I can talk to her," Matsumoto said, reaching over and placing one of her hands over his. He didn't look up, but the frown on his face softened. "Next week is Captain/Vice-Captain Appreciation Day, so maybe she'd like to bring Aizen-taichou to that meeting. If that can't be done, I'll ask about us joining her for lunch at 5th division more often. That should make it more convenient for her. It's been a long time since either one of us has seen Hinamori-kun, hasn't it, Taichou?"

Hitsugaya nodded. "If you don't mind."

She smiled at him, and gave his hand a squeeze. "Not at all," she said, and there was something in her voice that told him that, while Hinamori probably wouldn't come to the next Shinigami Women's Association meeting, she would be having lunch with them at 5th division within a couple of days.

The confidence in that voice lifted his spirits, which is probably why he said, "thanks" so gruffly, his cheeks slightly pink, before pulling his hand away.

Matsumoto surprised him by reaching over and taking the stack of reports off his lap. She flipped through them, looking for the two unfinished ones. He almost felt bad as he watched her pull them out and pick her brush up again.

Almost.

He waited until she was finished filling them out before saying anything.

"Speaking of Captain/Vice-Captain Appreciation Day…"

He figured now would be a good time to tell her about that new cousin of his.


End file.
